BeBionic's myo-electric hand features numerous improvements over past models, including being the world's first rotatable electronic prosthetic hand. (Source: BeBionic)

The force is strong in this prosthetic

High
tech bionics may one day provide
vision to the blind and hearing to the deaf. But among the
most exciting prosthetics is the possibility of fully functional
prosthetic limbs.

In his visionary science fiction epic Star
Wars,
director George Lucas showed protagonist Luke Skywalker getting his
hand chopped off by his villainous father, Darth Vader, only to have
it replaced by a prosthetic that offered the complete functionality
of his old hand. Today, modern science hasn't quite caught up
to Star
Wars,
but it's getting awfully close.

A UK-based firm called
BeBionic has unveiled its completed myo-electric bionic
hand masterpiece. The company bills the device as the
"next generation of fully articulated myo-electric
hands." Myo-electric means
that the limb is controlled by muscle contractions the surface of the
residual limb. A computer translate the inputs (muscle
contractions) into outputs (hand movement) given its configured
action profiles.

Past mechanical hands have featured
flexion/extension, but the new hand will be the world's first to
offer rotational articulation. Plus the device offers wireless
communication with a control computer, versus the USB cables that
many previous models have featured.

The true key to the device
though is the ability for users to customize exact commands in terms
of speed, force, and grip patterns, for common tasks. That
should great simplify everyday chores like picking up objects or
typing.

BeBionic is showing off the electronic appendage at
the ISPO World Congress in Leipzig and offers a demo video here.

The
device will be available for worldwide distribution in June in 19
different realistic silicone skin tones, for a true sci-fi feel.

Now
if the scientists can just get to work on lightsabers, we'll be all
set.

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